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Tuesday April 15, 2008
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 MacWorld reported yesterday on the launch of the Psystar Open Computer, essentially a port of the Apple Macintosh OS X operating system directly to generic PC hardware. The price? $399, which is hundreds of dollars less than any Apple product save the Mac mini, which is $599. (It appears that at one time the PC was called an "Open Mac".)
And if you were wondering: yes, this is a direct violation of Apple's EULA.
Here's Psystar's pitch:
"You don't need to spend an arm and a leg to get the full OS X Leopard experience," the company says. "Apple's Mac Mini is completely stripped and still expensive. Why would you want a stripped-down computer, anyway? You asked for a good and inexpensive computer that can run OS X and we answered with the Open Computer which is less expensive than even the cheapest Apple computer out now; faster than most Apple computers out now; running arguably the best operating system available; ready to run out of the box when you purchase it with Leopard included. If you buy Leopard with your Open Computer we'll install it for free."
Here's the base configuration:
- 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor
- 2GB of DDR2 667 memory
- Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
- 20x DVD+/-R SATA drive that is Lightscribe-capable
- 4 rear USB Ports
Upgrades, such as a 2.66-GHz processor (for $90), are also available.
This appears to be a limited-time offer: order a Psystar PC before Apple files an injunction against the company. You might recall a small number of companies that tried to sell various clones of the Mac in the late 90s... Apple sued them out of existence.
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April 15, 2008 11:52 AM
The part that entertains me is that they go on to say that there's absolutely no guarantee that your marginally-better-than-a-Mac-Mini machine (note that if you want better hardware than the base model the price starts to eek ever so closer to that Mini) will continue to work as Apple releases patches and updates for 10.5.
It's entertaining to see, for sure, and while I'm absolutely sure that this company will not only get sued out of existence but also that Apple will recoup every single penny they make and then some, I think in the long run there's two big problems here:
1 - it'll prove to be a disservice to the hackintosh/osx86 underground, who's been working for years to dissect the underpinnings of OS X and get it running on x86 hardware. By launching an obviously short-lived venture on their efforts, I worry that Apple will ditch what may have been a somewhat laid back approach to the people building hacked Macs in their basement for fun.
(Lifehacker did a "build your own hackintosh" article a while back - way more powerful but also way more expensive:
http://lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/build-a-hackintosh-mac-for-under-800-321913.php
and then how to install OS X on it:
http://lifehacker.com/348653/install-os-x-on-your-hackintosh-pc-no-hacking-required )
2 - If you're really going to spend money on something like this, and I mean really, (beyond a geeky experiment like building your own hackintosh, where if it didn't work you'd just install windows) wouldn't you rather take the $399 (or more if you upgraded the base hardware) and get a Mac Mini where you knew it was going to not just work, but continue to work in the future? Good luck getting support from anyone, not just Apple, when you say "Oh yeah, I'm running 10.5 on this Psystar...."
April 15, 2008 5:31 PM
I'm not sure that you are correct about Apple suing the clone makers out of existence. The cloners were licensed to sell mac-compatible hardware. When Jobs returned, he pulled the plug on the licenses to make Apple the only seller of Mac hardware in order to consolidate the company and make it liquid again since Apple was sliding down the tubes. Apple made the bulk of its income selling hardware back then (and still does today) and having third parties sell hardware was taking a bite out of their income. Also, I think Jobs argued that Apple could have better control over the Mac experience if the hardware and software were made by Apple exclusively. Anyway, I don't recall the cloners being sued into non-existence.
April 15, 2008 7:45 PM
Yeah... you must have failed history in high school.
From Wikipedia because you're apparently to lazy:
"Official Macintosh clone program
By 1995, Apple Macintosh computers accounted for about 7% of the worldwide desktop computer market. Apple executives decided to launch an official clone program in order to expand Macintosh market penetration. Apple's clone program entailed the licensing of the Macintosh ROMs and system software to other manufacturers, each of which agreed to pay a royalty for each clone computer they sold. From early 1995 through mid-1997, it was possible to buy PowerPC-based clone computers running Mac OS, most notably from Power Computing. Other licensees were Motorola, Radius, APS Technologies, DayStar Digital, and UMAX. In terms of exterior styling, Mac clones often more closely resembled generic PCs than their Macintosh counterparts, but they frequently offered better performance at a lower price than true Macs.
Jobs ends the official program
Soon after Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he backed out of recently renegotiated licensing deals with OS licensees that Apple executives complained were still financially unfavorable [7]. Because the clonemakers' licenses were valid only for Apple's System 7 operating system, Apple's release of Mac OS 8 left the clone manufacturers without the ability to ship a current Mac OS version and effectively ended the cloning program.[8] Apple bought Power Computing's Mac clone business for $100 million, ending the Clone era.[9]"
But yeah, making shit up seems appropriate too. When can we look forward to your next fiction?
April 15, 2008 8:23 PM
They teach kids about Apple clones in high school? Wow - the curriculum is getting awfully fat these days! Looks to me like they should focus on grammar. ;)
April 16, 2008 7:36 AM
Ha ha. Yes, I had a typo.
April 21, 2008 2:43 PM
I had the Motorola Clone..still do. I love the whole idea and ambition of Psystar and they know fully well what they are doing. (Lawsuits and all). I'd by one just for the nostalgic and historic purposes. We ALL know macs are over priced and as time goes on they have been getting lower priced after 6-9 months (refurb), just have to be persistent when looking for a good buy.